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 Hudson Cole of Stewart Security was up in the air in Wartrace Tuesday installing a new security camera system. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Click to enlarge] |
Workers with Stewart Security braved high winds Tuesday installing security cameras.
Police Chief Billy Smith said Wartrace got the $4,000 homeland security grant due to the efforts of Scott Johnson and Eugene Nichols of Bedford County Emergency Management Agency. Wartrace is paying for the installation cost.
The cameras will monitor the rail line and crossing at the center of Wartrace, due to the amount of hazardous material that moves through the area.
Smith thought back to the 1978 incident when a railroad tanker carrying liquid propane gasoline exploded in the center of Waverly, killing 16 people and injuring 43, some suffering horrific burns. Among the dead were Waverly's police and fire chiefs.
 Wartrace Police Chief Billy Smith (left) and Eugene Nichols of Bedford County Emergency Management Agency unpack the cameras and digital video recorders that will be used to monitor the CSX railroad crossing and the downtown area. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Click to enlarge] |
Nichols added that monitoring the railroad crossing is important to county emergency personnel. Smith added that the cameras can be used for security as well.
The grant money enabled Wartrace to buy five cameras and two digital video recorders (DVRs).
The cameras are motion sensitive and can operate in very low light. Each DVR can hold up to 16 cameras, Smith said, and over time more cameras can be added to the system.
The DVRs can record up to 30 days worth of footage which can be burned to disk for archiving purposes.
"It's a very state of the art system and we're proud of it," Smith said.
Mayor Don Gallagher said the camera idea had been before the town board for "quite a while" and they appreciated the help received from the county's EMA in getting the grant, adding that the cameras would add some more security to the community.
Eventually, Smith says the city hopes to add more cameras to monitor further down the CSX line and to install cameras at Wartrace's water plant and the spring that supplies that area of the county with water.
Other locations for the cameras could be the park and recreation areas. Having the cameras may not put a stop to vandalism, but will give law enforcement a tool that can be used to catch the responsible parties.
With the correct password, law enforcement and others can go online and monitor activity from any location, Smith said. The county's EMA will have access as well as E-911, which can use the imagery to coordinate responses and personnel.
"This is going to be a very good tool," Smith said.
What does monitoring traffic lights have to do with monitoring downtown Wartrace? Both involve cameras, thats about it. Who asked me? I have lived in the 37183 my entire life so my opinion does count a little. If you don't live in Wartrace, YOU DON'T HAVE A DOG IN THIS HUNT! Stick to the sports page youbetya.
O.k. For one, "Barney the Traffic Cop" has better things to do than to watch you people, only if you are in the wrong, then maybe so. These camers are a great thing for Wartrace to have and give it a little while, and with E.M.A. then Normandy and Bell Buckle both will have them. CSX and E.M.A along with law enforcement officers can watch the trains and the railroad. Why didn't you people object and have ugly things to say when they put cameras up all over Shelbyville at the red-lights??? They can see what you do inside your vehicle, these cameras are focused on the tracks and the town. So maybe you should leave it be because if you are doing wrong in Wartrace, "Barney and Andy" WILL get you without the cameras. Keep up the GREAT job guys, your'e wonderful.......
I think that it is a great thing for the cameras to be installed in the Town of wartrace. Give it another year and with help from the E.M.A. and grants, Bell Buckle and Normandy will also have them. It is a good thing for the Emergency Services adn also CSX. For those of you whom don't like the idea, who asked you? If it help law enforcement officers crack down on the crime also, then so be it. How many of you complained when the cameras went up on the red lights in Shelbyville? I don't think that "Barney the Traffic Cop" had anything to do with that. They can see everything that you do inside your vehicle. Call the Mayor of Shelbyville and leave the police officers of Wartrace alone. They are doing a FANTASTIC job, they don't need the cameras because "Barney & Andy" WILL get you anyway !!!!!!!!
I didnt know Wartrace had such a high crime rate.!!!These camars dont make the crossing any safer.How is that camra going to stop a train any faster or keep people from crossing when the lights are flashing?You give in a little now and next thing you know those camaras will be aimed at your house.Those camars aint nothing but a monitoring tool.It does take away your privacy
Great Job, EMA, love to see those tax dollars at work.
Good point! Who WILL watch the Watchers?
Next step is surveillance cameras that can "see" through solid objects, i.e. your home's walls!!
What nathan.evans says about the implanted tracking chip will someday be implanted at birth....sounds like Nazi Germany - chips, tatooed numbers, all the same!
It's a slippery slope. Hide and watch.
so they posted a few cameras.. i dont see a problem with it. there are several cameras in shlebyville at alot of the traffic lights. they are just to ensure public safety. i guess people will have to find a new place to deal drugs
Well, they have every right to monitor the city just cant install a camera pointing in your front door. I doubt this is a big conspiracy and really dont see how it infringes any freedoms or rights.
I live in Wartrace, and have to drive by these cameras at least 4 times a day. They are not simply pointed toward the tracks. They can basically see anything in downtown Wartrace. I'm not the kind of person who believes in many conspiracy theories, or sits at home in the closet with a helmet made out of tin foil, but I don't think these cameras are about the trains at all. Someone has an agenda here people. Could it be Barney the traffic cop?
The police state that America is becoming is now a reality in Wartrace. Once the community accepts the idea of a couple of cameras monitoring the crossing, we will soon find cameras popping up on every corner and every street. The foundation of this plan is laid out above. Go ahead and implant my tracking chip now.
WHO WILL WATCH THE WATCHERS?